Halloween Nights
by boopingsloth
Summary: They had to be the best - Nora had made costumes, they had THREE stations of candy, and they were Team JNPR. Even if someone tried to out-Halloween them, they were already guaranteed to have an awesome night. Because they were all just that cool, and this would be one of the best nights!


I'm avoiding going downstairs because I know I'll be asked to babysit… more. I've been helping/been left alone with the baby almost a week straight now. No break. I'm dying a little inside.

On the plus side, it is Halloween, so I figured I'd do something… because it's my favorite holiday and all, and I've got a couple hours before I have to start getting ready for trick-or-treaters!

I own nothing, but I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

 _ **Halloween Night**_

"Nora, is there a reason that we have three different kinds of candy in three different bowls?" Jaune looked down at the mess by their door, raising his eyebrows as Nora dragged decorations around the room. "I don't think we'll have that many trick-or-treaters coming by."

"Stations!"

"What?"

"They're stations! You have one bowl, Pyrrha has another, and me and Ren have the last one! They'll get _lots_ of candy! Ren, where's my costume box?" Nora practically dived onto her partner's back, not looking over at Jaune as she continued babbling. "It's got all the pieces I've made that we can all wear! I've got a knight costume that I'm pretty sure will fit Jaune -it would have fit better _before_ he started training with Pyrrha, but it'll work! And the nymph costume would be so pretty on Pyrrha… oooh, or the goddess or…"

"Nora."

"Yes Ren?"

"I put it by your bed."

"Oh, cool! Thanks Ren!"

Jaune watched the display silently, wondering what had happened and when Halloween had been planned out so effortlessly by his teammates. He was relatively sure Ren was just along for the ride, but Nora had not only obtained costumes but candy for all of them. Without being noticed.

It would have been impressive if it weren't absolutely terrifying.

"Nora, I have a costume." It was cheap, just something he could afford while being a student, but that didn't mean anything. He wasn't planning on going to a party, so it didn't have to be fancy.

"That rag deserved to be burned! So, I burned it." Nora raised her eyebrows before tossing a bag at Jaune, staring him down easily. "Now stop acting like such a party pooper; we all know you like costumes and Halloween and such! Get dressed and ready for kids!"

"Why isn't Pyrrha getting ready yet?"

"Cuz Ozpin needed her for something and I can get her dressed _easy_." For all it was worth, she was probably right. Nora could get practically anyone to go along with her plans if she wanted it enough. "And I'm going to be decorating and Ren's making food before he gets ready!"

Jaune gave in without any more protesting. For all of Nora's quirks and spontaneity of her plans, he did like Halloween and dressing up and everything that went with it. He hadn't done it as much as he got older, but he still got a kick out of seeing the kids dressed up as best as they could; he almost preferred giving out candy to more grown-up parties.

He enjoyed the parties more now that he knew Pyrrha and the rest of the team.

As Jaune started figuring out how to put on the armor Nora had made -and when did she get the time to do _that_? - something else she said finally clicked.

"Wait… did you say you _burned_ my costume?"

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Nora loved Halloween. She didn't need parties; she had such a good time talking to the kids about her costumes that she didn't need any extra form of socialization. Ren made cookies, there was always leftover candy, and it gave her an excuse to dress up in crazy costumes without people looking at her too strangely.

Not that she cared, but it was nice to have a day where it was socially acceptable to be dressed up however she wanted, with the only limit being her creativity… which meant that she had no limits whatsoever.

And now she had people to dress up with her… even if they did try to insult her sewing skills by buying some cheap costume in a discount store. She spent weeks styling everything just right… something that surprised anyone who knew about it, but she had to spend that time on it! Everything had to be perfect, from scratches on the armor for realism, or the pleats lying just right, or enough similarities in a gender-bent costume that everyone knew what it was anyway.

Nora could focus if she tried… it was unfortunate that she didn't care about schoolwork, but this was something she could do. And Ren couldn't.

Nora would never let him forget the time he stabbed himself accidentally with the needle six times while trying to thread it.

So, she wasn't going to let Jaune _not_ dress up nicely, Pyrrha wasn't going to disappear into the room while trick-or-treaters were around, and everyone was going to be happy with all the candy they were getting. They had the normal treat-sized candies everyone gave out, king-sized candy bars, and some specialty candies you only found in a tiny candy store down a dark alley in Beacon.

Because Nora wasn't content to just be an awesome house -or in this case, dorm- to trick-or-treat at. She had to be the best.

"Halloween is awesome!" Nora jumped up as soon as she finished putting on her costume, grinning easily at Ren. She'd actually had to research for his costume, but at the end of the day, searching through history books for pictures of ancient armors was worth it. Ren had a historical looking costume -she wouldn't admit out loud that he looked better than she expected in it- and Nora actually got him to commit to wearing it in advance.

It was easier to surprise Jaune and Pyrrha into it, but Ren needed some work, or he'd end up in his normal clothes.

"Pyrrha, do you want a cookie?" Nora skipped over to their snack table, the result of a day of Ren's cooking, snagging herself a pumpkin cupcake in the process. She was most proud of Pyrrha's costume, never expecting to get Pyrrha to wear something even slightly revealing. But somehow -maybe it was Jaune's casual compliment- Pyrrha had been convinced to wear the Athenian dress without any real resistance.

And if the way Jaune stole glances whenever Pyrrha wasn't looking was any indication, Nora had done a very good job with that.

Sure, Nora had fun making a gender-bend Thor costume for herself, but that was more for fun than anything else. She'd made Pyrrha's costume fully intending for it to boost the other girl's self-esteem in her looks… after all, she couldn't just be a warrior all the time!

Plus, it was so not fair that she was clueless to how pretty she was! Pyrrha _should_ know that she was pretty, not just that she was looked at for her skills!

"Huh? No thanks Nora, I think I'm okay for now." Pyrrha smiled at a little girl who was wandering through their hall in a princess costume, offering a piece of candy when she stopped shyly a foot away. "Here you go."

"Hey, aren't you supposed to say something?" Nora teased the little girl -that skirt nearly ate her- with a wide grin. "It is Halloween after all!"

"T-trick or treat!" That grin nearly made up for the atrocity of that gigantic skirt; didn't anyone realize too much tulle was a bad thing?

"Good job!" Nora handed over a king-sized Snickers, her grin growing at the look on the girl's face. Obviously, she hadn't expected to get _two_ pieces of candy from one room, but she didn't look like she minded. Not at all.

She was even happier when Jaune pulled another candy from her ear and handed it over with a jolly "Happy Halloween!"

If the look on that girl's face was any indication, she was going to tell _everyone_ about their room and they were going to get very busy very soon!

()~~()~~()~~()~~()

Whoever had decided that opening Beacon for a safe night of trick-or-treating was a genius; Nora hadn't had that much fun on Halloween in a very long time; and she _always_ had fun on Halloween!

But between Pyrrha's growing ease with the kids, Jaune's obvious affection for them -they really had to meet his younger sister at some point- and Ren handing out candy next to her, it was the best holiday Nora had had in years.

Even if they were all exhausted by the kids' excitement, it had been a good night. They had obviously been the best room in the dorm, although Team RWBY had put up quite a fight… nothing quite like the food fight, but they'd build up to that again. And they could all relax now and enjoy the candy that was leftover!

"That was fun!" Nora was leaning against Ren, having changed into her pajamas soon after the event was over. "But I'm ready to relax with candy and scary movies! What about you guys?"

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other, both of them still in costume with pink faces. "Well, Ruby and the others invited us to that party at Coco's, so…"

"Say no more!" Really, she wanted them to say nothing more. She wanted them to go to a party and get together-together and be all happy together. Nora waved them out with a grin, practically chasing them out from her sitting position. "I'll watch creepy scary movies until I fall asleep! Ren?"

"I'll stay."

Nora squealed, bouncing excitedly as Ren moved to put in a movie, her grin not fading in the slightest. She _loved_ Jaune and Pyrrha like siblings, loved being able to have a _family_ again and doing things together…

But it was always best when she could have that _and_ time alone with Ren to do the things they had always done together.

New things were amazing. But nights like this, with Jaune and Pyrrha moving forward in their uncertain relationship towards something more, and Nora with Ren, comfortable and safe in their friendship that wasn't something more, but kind of was, were the best kind of nights. It was all that she needed and more.

This was a Halloween, and a night, that she would always hold onto… always!

* * *

So, I looked. I couldn't find any name for an ancient Chinese warrior that wasn't in foreign characters that I can't understand. I did try. And you know, I kinda had to do the whole costume relating to like… origin stories. Cuz… reasons. I just wanted to. Anyway, I'm not gonna rant much cuz as I typed this, time went by and I have to get ready for my own trick-or-treaters! I hope you guys enjoyed, have/had a happy Halloween, and feel free to leave a review! I'll see you guys in another story!


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